


Arthur's First Jack-O'-Lantern

by heartsdesire456



Series: 13 Fics of Halloween [5]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Jack-o'-lanterns, M/M, Reincarnation, halloween fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 20:44:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5063455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsdesire456/pseuds/heartsdesire456
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin introduces Arthur to the tradition of Jack-O'-Lantern carving.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Arthur's First Jack-O'-Lantern

**Author's Note:**

> SORRY IM LATE BUT IM GOING OUT OF TOWN TOMORROW SO I HAD SHIT TO DO WOOPS!

Arthur stared at the pumpkin Merlin had set on the table and blinked. “Merlin… what on earth is _that_?” he asked, curling his lip in disgust. “Is it some deformed orange?”

Merlin chuckled rolling his eyes. “It’s a pumpkin.”

“A _what_?” Arthur asked, walking over to poke it. “It feels like a melon.”

Merlin shook his head. “Nope. It’s a type of squash. You know squash. That soup we ate last night was made of squash.”

Arthur hummed, tilting his head as he slowly walked around the table, examining the pumpkin. “So it’s for eating? But it’s so big! I know you say I’m fat, but _honestly_ -“ Merlin couldn’t hold in his amusement and he burst out laughing and walking around the table to curl his arms around Arthur’s middle, hugging him from behind. Arthur frowned, looking at him. “What’s this for?” 

Merlin sighed, resting his chin on Arthur’s shoulder. “You’re adorable, that’s why.” He reached past him and tapped the pumpkin. “It’s edible, yes, but that’s not what we’re doing.” He pulled away from Arthur and walked to stand beside him. “You remember how I explained Halloween?”

Arthur nodded. “Lots of fancy dress and pretending to be monsters for fun,” he said, and Merlin nodded.

“Well, pumpkins are a type of squash plant and it’s a Halloween tradition to cut it open, scoop out the innards, carve a face or something on it, and put a candle or light in there,” he explained.

Arthur stared at him with a very flat expression. “Merlin. You may have convinced me the oven was made with magical dragon fire, but you will not fool me again.”

Merlin grinned. “I’m being serious, Arthur. Honestly, if you went into town you’d see them on every decoration around.” He picked up the large kitchen knife and offered it to Arthur. “Here, you can do the honors. Cut the top out around the stem.”

Arthur hummed. “Suuuure. Alright.” He gave Merlin a look that clearly said he thought he was mad, so Merlin sighed.

“Fine, you do this, I’ll be right back.” He left with one last glance to see Arthur stabbing the knife into the top of the pumpkin and then ran upstairs to grab his laptop. Once he’d found it and looked up Halloween jack-o-lanterns, he came back downstairs. He saw Arthur had sawed through and was holding the top of the pumpkin while looking at the insides in disgust.

Arthur looked up when he heard Merlin coming. “I think this Pumpin’s gone off, Merlin,” he said, looking down into it with a look of disgust.

“It’s pump _kin_ ,” Merlin explained, walking over. “And no, it’s supposed to look like that.” He put the laptop down and spun it around, showing Arthur. “See? Halloween jack-o-lanterns. It’s a thing.”

Arthur scrolled down the page. “Huh.” He shrugged. “Jack oh lantern. Who is jack and why is his lantern called an oh-lantern?” he asked.

Merlin smiled at him in amusement. “Remember that time we saw those bog lights? Where the decay caused little flames in the air?” Arthur nodded.

“Gwaine was convinced it was spirits,” Arthur recalled and Merlin nodded.

“Well a while back they called them jack-o-lanterns in some places because they looked like little lanterns flickering and I guess there was some man named Jack who saw them,” he said with a shrug. “Anyways, that’s where the name came from. What we’re going to do is scoop all these stringy bits and seeds out first.”

Arthur looked in with a grossed out look then sighed, leaning back to roll up his sleeves. “Honestly, Merlin. This is just disgusting.”

Merlin grinned. “It’s fun, though.” He gestured to the pumpkin. “You first.”

“Do I just…reach in and grab at it?” Arthur asked, and Merlin shrugged.

“At first. Then you scrape the insides to really clean it up.”

Arthur sighed, but did as Merlin said. He reached in, halfway up his forearm, and made a face. “Oh _yuck_. This feels vile,” he complained, coming back out with a handful of stringy gloop. He dropped it on the tray Merlin gestured to and wiggled his fingers. “Ew.”

Merlin poked one of the seeds. “You can actually eat the seeds. You can bake them so they’re all dried and stuff. Some people really like it but I’m not a fan.” He looked up at Arthur. “We can try if you want.”

Arthur gave him an incredulous look. “Yeah right. I’ll pass.” Merlin went to grab a spoon while Arthur scooped all the stuff he could out of the pumpkin. He handed him the spoon and Arthur began scraping. One he finished, he handed Merlin the spoon and went to go wash his hands. “Alright, now what?”

Merlin slid his arms around Arthur while he dried his hand with the cloth. “Well, we can cut it out ourselves, or you could tell me what you’d like to see and I can just carve it with magic,” he suggested.

Arthur hummed, turning to rest his arms around Merlin’s shoulders. “Well, you do know how much I love watching you do magic,” he rumbled and Merlin grinned.

“What would you like to see, then?” he asked and Arthur made a playful thinking face. 

“You know,” Arthur mused, tilting his head. “Just for the sake of old times, how about a dragon?”

Merlin held his gaze and nodded as his eyes flashed golden, prompting Arthur to smile. Arthur always liked watching Merlin’s magical eyes. Merlin sometimes forgot that their first life together ever even happened because of how different Arthur was in this life they had now. It was something else entirely different and entirely wonderful. Merlin didn’t realize his thoughts had wandered because Arthur never stopped looking into his eyes, but when he snapped out of it, he had the feeling it had been a few minutes. He ducked his head, smiling sheepishly. It was hard to not blush under Arthur’s adoring gaze. He glanced to the side and then did a double take, smiling.

“Arthur, look.”

Arthur turned and smiled brightly when he saw the jack-o-lantern, already lit by magic. “Oh my God, Merlin!” He laughed excitedly. “That’s amazing! It looks just like a dragon!” He pulled away from Merlin and went to turn off the lights, then laughed again. “That is possibly the best thing I’ve ever seen!” He grabbed Merlin around the waist and kissed him soundly, startling Merlin some. “Thank you.”

Merlin laughed at his excitement. “And who was skeptical about all this half an hour ago?” he asked, and Arthur gave him a little shrug.

“As always, I find myself proven wrong by you, Merlin.” He leaned in and brushed a kiss to the corner of his lips. “Thank you.”

Merlin grinned and shook his head. “It’s nothing, Arthur-“

“Stop,” Arthur argued with a smile.

Merlin rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I love you too, Dollop Head.”


End file.
